25th June 2011 - Match Reports.

Himley vs BGCC 4ths

 BGCC 2nds vs Ombersley
Barnards Green 4ths took the long and weary road to Himley on Saturday and despite leaving the warm sunshine in Malvern they returned victorious by 9 wickets.  Stand in skipper Robin Longmore won the toss and with a dampish looking wicket in the offering, he elected to bowl first.  Debutant 13 year old Anthony Eyles was handed the new ball and he didn't disappoint, bowling five overs for just 2 runs neither of which were off the bat.  His slightly older opening partner Clive Churchill bowled a good line and despite three edged fours in one over he then claimed the scalp of opener M Bowen caught behind by the dexterous Julian Hall, back in the country for a short spell.  Fourteen year old Andy Banks was then introduced into the attack for his first bowl in Saturday league cricket and after a nervy start he found a good line and sharpe turn to make life difficult for the Himley batsman and finished with figures of 0-14 off 6 overs, very creditable.  Rob Tyler, back after a two week break couldn't find his length and as the pitch dried out, batting got easier so Longmore called up his senior bowlers in the form of Rob Lewis and Dave Price.  Price picked up the first of his three wickets as Banks held a skier and Lewis bowled opener Short for 49.  With three short boundaries and a wicket that got easier as the game went on, boundaries started to flow but Price then bowled Cole and had another batsman caught by Dean before Churchill was brought back in to the attack and bowled G Bowen for 13.  Himleys innings closed on 196 as tea was taken. 
Chris Horne and Julian Hall opened the batting for the Green and after a circumspect start, both batsmen started to find the boundary although Horne should have been caught early on, a chance Himley would rue as the game went on.  Hall then succumbed to G Bowen bowled around his legs, but this just brought the hungry for runs Cyril Dean to the wicket.  From 60 for 1, Horne and Dean took the Green to victory in the 31st over pulling and driving anything remotely loose and despite the occasional chance, both reached well deserved fifties before Dean hit the winning runs to finish on 61 with Chris Horne undefeated on 87.  An excellent performance with the juniors in the team stealing the honours with some first class bowling and fielding with Sam Daffin showing what an excellent fielder he is becoming.  Thanks go to match day sponsor J Hall Gardening Services.

Lichfield vs BGCC 1sts.
A lower order tail wag and a disciplined and well executed bowling performance spared Barnards Green blushes as they took maximum points from the Cathedral City of Lichfield in this week’s BDPCL clash. After losing the toss the visitors found themselves in big trouble at 25-5 losing Dovey, Golder, Ford, Smedley and McEwan without the scorers using much ink. Disciplined and watchful batting from Hooper who grafted hard for 29 and to a lesser extent Binks who batted an hour for 12 allowed first Wheeler to face the Lichfield change bowling and express himself scoring a brisk 32. Skipper Williams and Jon Dovey then combined in what turned out to be a match changing partnership as they dispatched all loose offerings. Even the return of the opening attack could not stunt their partnership until it was ended in the final over having added 66 vital runs. Williams top scoring with 35 and Dovey 33. Liddiard the pick of the bowlers with 4-44 and Wilkinson 3-48 and the visitors posting 185.
With Phil Harris unavailable due to MCCU commitments Jon Dovey immediately filled the new ball breach dismissing Price for 1 to give the Green a perfect start however Lichfield’s Kiwi import Bassett combined well with Sargison to build a partnership. Unfortunately for the home side this was the highlight of their innings with Sargsion falling to McEwan for 12 a procession of Lichfield batsmen fell at regular intervals with all of the Green bowlers getting in on the act. A McEwan slower ball accounted for Bassett caught Willaims for a fantastic 81. He received little support from the rest of the middle order with only Seager( who was hit in the chin by a Williams bumper) contributing 11 reaching double figures. McEwan picked up his third wicket to a smart catch by keeper Binks and it was then left to Ford to wrap up the tail with the impressive figures of 1.4 overs, 3 wickets, no runs to bowl the home side out for 116 his 3 wickets including an impressive catch at short leg from Golder.
Next weekend the Green First Eleven travel to Sutton Coldfield with the second team entertaining Barnt Green at North End Lane.

On a hot and humid Saturday at North End Lane a young Green side, missing the experience of Wheeler (promoted), Hooper (Promoted) and Brookes (unavailable) were asked to field first against resurgent Ombersley side.
Eliot Hennessy (7-0-29-0) took the new ball and bowled with pace and bounce in a hostile opening spell which, rather unfortunately, ended wicketless. James Scullion (14-3-81-1) shared the opening duties and bowled well but found little lateral movement to aid his quest for wickets. Scullion, later returned to pick up a wicket in the closing overs. After a quiet start the visiting openers Oakley and D’Oliveria began to compile an excellent 217 run partnership before the latter perished 9 runs short of his century. One bright spot in the innings was the sharp legside stumping by Brewer off the bowling of Scullion to remove D’Oliveria. Oakley began to accelerate as his innings continued and finally perished for 148, a quality, well paced innings. Because of this partnership, and the bludgeoning dished out by the number 3 Gwynne (51 of 29 balls), the bowling figures of Lewis Hooper (15-0-89-0), Tom Clack (9-1-67-1) and Jack MacIntosh (5-0-32-0) suffered before the innings finally closed on 302-3 in 50 overs.
After the tea interval Green openers Doughty and Hennessy began the task of chasing down what looked like a formidable total – some 40 runs above par for the ground. Doughty began well taking 10 runs off the first over. Hennessy also quickly found his stride and hit the ball sweetly down the ground off the bowling of Ringe and Meacham. With 64 on the board and the chase going well, Doughty (30) fell after an appeal for caught behind was upheld. Hennessy was next to fall, given out leg before. What followed was extraordinary – he was halted as he walked off whilst the visitors discussed whether or not to withdraw their appeal. After much debate the appeal was carried and the batsman had to continue his slow walk to the pavilion. An excellent start for the home side had turned quickly sour. Tom Banks (18), newly promoted to number 3, batted well for his runs but perished just as he was looking set. Metcalfe (1) fell victim to Ringe and the innings was imploding at 87-4. Things got worse as Ashlea Brewer (0) was bowled by the spin of Meacham and Clack (0) also perished in identical fashion. The fight back began when Louis Loader (13) and Dan Metcalfe (17) came together and batted sensibly, leaving the ball well and playing straight, minimising risk whenever possible. After Loader departed, Lewis Hooper (23) batted excellently, taking the total above 150 and towards the second bonus point of 160 before he fell, caught in the slips via the wicketkeeper, Lightfoot. Scullion (4*) guided the total to 162 with a swept four. With four balls to survive, Macintosh strode to the crease and confidently kept out the bowling of Gwynne to deny the visitors a victory.
Both teams played some good cricket across the 100 overs and the batting of Oakley and D’Oliveria was some of the best we have seen this season but the Green really must work on the basics of batting, bowling and fielding if they are to compete at the top end of this division. From a captain’s perspective too many players are bursting with talent but are neglecting to do the simple things which make all of the difference. There are many things which make a successful side, both on and off the field and many of these things are not being done – getting the ground ready, umpiring and clearing away after the game are everybody’s responsibilities and players should not have to be asked repeatedly to carry out these simple tasks. Next Saturday we entertain league leaders Barnt Green and they will exploit any weaknesses we display. With practice opportunities limited this week players will need to train in their own time or before the game on Saturday morning.